Easton Area School Board members approved with no public discussion a $600,000 settlement in a retaliation lawsuit filed against the district.

The suit, filed more than two years ago, claims four current and former administrators were demoted, had their salaries slashed or frozen and were stripped of duties after they went to Forks Township police with concerns about intrusions into their confidential computer files.

On Tuesday, board members unanimously approved the settlement, with Jodi Hess abstaining. The item was put on the agenda toward the end of the meeting.

As part of the settlement agreement, Castrovinci will resign at the end of June 2018. He’ll be on leave until then, and the district will pay his full salary through Jan. 31, 2018, as well as pension benefits until his resignation. They’ll also continue medical benefits for him and his family until he gets other employment with comparable benefits or is 55, and pay medical benefits for him until he’s 65.

The four administrators’ allegations concerned the events of October 2012, when they discovered former technology director Thomas Drago accessed their computers without their knowledge.

The school board, acting on Freund's advice, commissioned an internal investigation that found evidence that Drago downloaded nude photos and accessed files on other administrators' computers, which led to his resignation.

After he resigned, administrators, including some not involved in the lawsuit, reached out to law enforcement. Subsequently, search warrants were issued for Drago’s computers.

School board members, angered that law enforcement was involved, lashed out in profane tirades and subjected the administrators they blamed to personal attacks and decisions that set back their careers, the suit claimed.

Former Superintendent Susan McGinley, Castrovinci, Pokrivsak and former special education director Dawn Reagle alleged the school board's retaliation for reporting the conduct was a violation of their First Amendment right to free speech.

In addition to the school district, the settlement names defendants as former school board President Frank Pintabone, member Robert Fehnel, and former members Janet Matthews and William Rider.

Another lawsuit is pending against the district on behalf of former administrator Stephen Furst, who alleges retaliation after he discovered Drago accessed his computer.